"Fatherhood is something I think is at risk ... It's something we can't lose hold of in our society."

When Antonio Martin's 11-year-old daughter found a racy website two years ago, the East Baltimore dad nearly erupted.

Instead, he remembered lessons from the Center for Urban Families: Be patient, breathe, talk it through.

The center now stands to receive a $1,000 donation from bicyclists in the Dads Honor Ride. They're riding three weeks — from Boston to Chicago, by way of Baltimore — and visiting organizations, such as the family center in Mondawmin, that support fathers.

On Sunday, Martin and other fathers welcomed five of the men bicycling.

"Fatherhood is something I think is at risk," said Kevin Heerdt, a board member at the center who pedaled with the dads through Baltimore. "It's something we can't lose hold of in our society."

About 25 million American children live in fatherless households, said Joe Jones, president of the Center for Urban Families. In Baltimore, he said, fathers are absent from two-to-three in five families.

Furthermore, he said, about 4,000 parents who don't live with their children in Sandtown-Winchester, Park Heights and Mondawmin owe more than $26 million in child support.

"We got so many of these guys and they don't even know their own dads," Jones said. "The cycle repeats itself."

About 1,000 men a year participate in the center's fatherhood classes. They learn patience, and how to listen and communicate with a child's mother.